Minecraft may be an addictive, open-ended game, but as one New York computer …

Share this story

With its open-ended nature and robust creation tools, Minecraft has been used to create some amazing things. And as one teacher learned, those very same elements that make the game so compelling also make it a great educational tool. Around two months ago, Joel Levin, a computer teacher at Manhattan's Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, decided to start using the game to teach an entire unit to his first- and second-grade students. The lessons took place almost entirely in the world of Minecraft. And it was a huge hit.

Ars spoke with Levin about what a lesson in Minecraft looks like and why the game is such a good teaching tool.

Prior to the Minecraft experiment, Levin had used a variety of tools to make his computer class more enjoyable for students. Google Earth was used for geography projects, for instance, while other more simple games were used to help teach typing and computer skills. What those tools didn't have that Minecraft does, though, was the ability to keep students engaged.

"l chose Minecraft specifically because it's so open-ended," Levin told Ars. "The game presents you with a huge open world and you can do any of a dozen different preset activities. Or you can go off and create your own content. That alone gives me a ton of freedom to invent content for the kids to engage in. I don't let them just play the game however they want. They must follow a path I lay out for them, which allows me to carry out lesson plans."

Levin also made some changes to the core game to make it more suitable for the classroom. Chief among these was making students invulnerable to damage while playing, so that they couldn't die in the game. Levin first had the idea to utilize Minecraft in his classes while playing the game over summer break, but became convinced it could work when his five year-old daughter began playing it, going so far as to craft a treehouse entirely on her own. Even though he had strong support from the school, Levin still had some initial trepidation about whether or not the experiment would be a success.

"Minecraft is not easy to pick up and enjoy if you've never played this type of game before," he told Ars. "Without a Wii controller in their hands, I worried that kids wouldn't make it over the learning curve. I also worried they would be overwhelmed by the game environments and not be able to focus on the lessons. I worried they would not be able to work together effectively because they are used to playing games where they are the only player. I was worried they would become bored with a game in which the purpose is to create, rather than destroy."

As it turns out, that worry was misplaced—the experiment was a rousing success. Class begins with the students away from the game, as Levin explains the goals for the day. Then they go to work, often in pre-built worlds created by Levin which feature specific tasks to accomplish or puzzles to solve. But they always need to work together.

For example, one lesson tasked groups of two or three students to build a structure with limited resources. Another had them investigating a mysterious pyramid, figuring out how to get inside while at the same time not disturbing the various treasures it contained. Some of the groups ended up building museums to house the contents of the pyramid.

"From day one, the kids are all playing together in a single world," explained Levin. "They must share resources, take turns, work together, and, frankly, be nice to each other. This is usually the first time these kids have had to think about these concepts in a game, but it goes hand in hand with the big picture stuff they are learning in their homerooms. It's amazing to see how many real world issues get played out in the microcosm of the game. Kids have territorial disputes over where they are building. Kids have said mean things to each other within the game or have been destructive with each other's creations."

Levin actually views these negative behaviors as a positive aspect of the lesson, and will often stop the game to address these concerns. He sees it as a way to help shape the way his students behave in an online environment, showing them the importance of acting in a responsible and considerate manner.

"Hopefully they will remember some of these lessons when they finally get Facebook accounts a few years down the road," he told Ars.

The experiment has been so successful that it will continue at the school. In the spring, Levin will be teaching four new groups of students, and soon he'll be starting an after school class as well.

"Over half of my students signed up to take it," he told Ars. "I had to offer it on an additional day to accommodate."

I'm pretty skeptical that there are any measurable, purposeful gains here. The kids learn the skills of working together, ok, I guess. Is that the objective of "Computer class"?

I would say for the coming age, collaborative use of computing resources in a social environment is a key requirement for a computing class. I think it's safe to say that most kids in industrialized nations are going to grow up with some basic computer literacy without school, so getting them socialized with computers is a better use of computer class time.

Keep in mind these are 1st and 2nd graders, and this is a basic computer class. The goals and lessons are fairly simple - in another interview he stated that his students generally aren't even introduced to researching things online at this age yet. But some of his students have taken those extra steps on their own to learn things about the game on their own.

Now, I don't have children, or really know how computer savvy the average 6 year old is these days, I imagine I'd be quite surprised - but I think basic life lessons such as cooperation, resource management, and other ancillary learnings are quite valuable.

Levin actually views these negative behaviors as a positive aspect of the lesson, and will often stop the game to address these concerns. He sees it as a way to help shape the way his students behave in an online environment, showing them the importance of acting in a responsible and considerate manner.

----Pirate2Pirate is now online.Seed2more is now online.---Pirate2Pirate:Hey you have the latest movie?Seed2more:Yeah! I can send it right over.Pirate2Pirate:Hey cool, thanks.Seed2more:Have any of the latest music?Pirate2Pirate:Sure, coming right up.Seed2more:U rock dude.

I think there are a great deal of curricular connections that can be made through games like Minecraft. Minecraft's ability to inspire creativity, even in adults, while remaining simple enough for even a six-year-old to understand (mine does) is unparalleled. Exciting to see Levin's work getting attention! We need more stories like this.

I work for a school district in southeastern North Carolina and we're launching our first Minecraft project this Friday (see: http://minecraftinschool.pbworks.com). We'll be hosting a server internally and bringing 5th graders in from two different schools to work collaboratively on a project. In addition to the game's inherent problem solving, we're using it as a basis for creative writing with our students. A similar strategy has worked wonders with a group of middle schoolers playing World of Warcraft (see: http://wowinschool.pbworks.com).

This is a really good idea. I think folks referring to Minecraft as a "game" just don't get it. It's like calling lego's "toys". They're both a creative building outlets.

However, I analogize playing MC to being addicited to medicore coffee. It's not the best, but for some reason you keep coming back to it, and it keeps you up for hours when you should be going to bed.

I can definitely see the "discipline" side of this. When you just crank up a new world and screw around, it's fun. But when you put concerted effort into building something, like a monster generator, it can start to feel like work. But that's when it teaches you process management & optimization. You devise plans on how to resource effectively, use build cheats (like pouring lava & water to make huge cobblestone walls), etc. When it starts to feel like work, it's no longer that fun. But as a teaching aid, this is brilliant!

Side note ... I learned how savvy a 6yo could be when games like Street Fighter 2 came out. I started playing one day, and this little kid shows up and saddles up next to me to vs. I got a chuckle out of it, and thought it would be like taking candy from a baby. Well...I got my ass handed to me by this 6yo little virtual bruce lee. He was doing stuff with the game I never saw. Secret moves? You mean games have secret moves and crap you have to learn? They don't just tell you it in the crap instructions on the machine? Well this kid had obviously figured it out. It was at that moment I decided to stop going to the arcade. LOL

Compared to what many education software companies charge for their (usually lame) products, the $20-ish dollars for a Minecraft account is rather cheap and well worth the investment. Not to mention there are no ongoing fees and it supports a great product!

:scratches head:And what are they learning? Someone suggested "collaborative use of computing resources in a social environment". That's a skill that cannot really be learned in a general sense. How you use those shared computing resources changes based on what soft/hardware you are using. It would be better to teach something that the kids actually have to learn via the use of a shared tool (one of the shared Google Apps, Etherpad, etc).

:scratches head:And what are they learning? Someone suggested "collaborative use of computing resources in a social environment". That's a skill that cannot really be learned in a general sense. How you use those shared computing resources changes based on what soft/hardware you are using. It would be better to teach something that the kids actually have to learn via the use of a shared tool (one of the shared Google Apps, Etherpad, etc).

Sounds like a euphemism for an MMO. That as a learning tool? Well that's an interesting debate in itself.

Not really at that age you want essentially want kids to be interested in computers in a general sense, encouraging them to love computer class is essentially the main job at this stage once you have them interested you can expand and build other lessons around it.